Virginia Power Gets Ok To Raise Rates Starting Nov. 1

Virginia Power customers will see their electric bills increase by an average of 20 cents a month, starting Nov. 1. That's only 40 percent of what the company sought.

The State Corporation Commission Friday approved a fuel-factor increase for Virginia Power that allows the company to charge 1.438 cents per kilowatt hour versus the current rate of 1.418 cents.

The fuel factor is the portion of Virginia Power's electric charges that pays for fuel used to generate the electricity.

The estimated 20-cent increase is based on an average winter usage of 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity that translates into a $84.97 monthly bill. An average customer currently pays about $84.77.

With the increase, Virginia Power estimates it will collect an additional $9 million for fuel expenses. Its requested increase of a 1.468-cent-rate would have brought in $25 million.

William H. Byrd, Virginia Power spokesman, said the company asked for the increase after estimating fuel costs for the coming year - as it does every fall.

Byrd said the request was based on Virginia Power's estimate that its four nuclear units would have unscheduled outages about 15 percent of the time, forcing the company to use more costly alternatives.

Byrd said the SCC instead estimated the nuclear units would be out only 11 percent of the time, leading the commission to decide that the entire requested increase wasn't necessary.

In a release announcing their decision, the SCC commissioners expressed concern about the $18.2 million annual payment Virignia Power continues to make to the U.S. Department of Energy for future disposal of spent nuclear fuel.